I don't know what's the matter with them but the strategy seem to be working.With the NES Mini selling out in a blink of an eye, they have basically made sure that every Mini console they make is going to fly off the shelves, because these things are now perceived as highly sought after, valuable toys. On the other hand, plug & play consoles by other brands (which basically offer the same thing, only with a different selection of games), are sitting on the shelves largely unwanted.

I never thought the NES Mini was much about "making money". I think it was more about re-establishing the brand and getting shelf space in stores during the xmas season. After all, the NES Mini was sold at half its real value, if the price of Virtual Console games is actually what Nintendo thinks those games are worth. Selling a dozen VC .roms nets them the same money of a NES Mini, at virtually zero expenses.

This strategy is also affecting Switch sales. The point is, people now know that Nintendo makes hard to find products, therefore they are much more prone to impulse buying their stuff when they see it in stores, because they know that if they think twice, it may be gone. All the people complaining because the NES Mini is impossible to buy - I wonder how many of them would have really bought the thing if they knew they could have got it anytime anywhere. The answer is probably not many.

Hey, it works on me too - I had no interest in the new Roger Waters record until I read that it was going to be pulled from stores...

Yes, a company will *absolutely* create artificial scarcity to create buzz for themselves. I'm just as baffled that people don't understand this as those same people are with the opposite scenario. The NES Classic sold out in minutes and Nintendo acknowledged as much. Then, in the thick of the mini system's popularity Nintendo responded to overwhelming public demand by... shutting down production. Why? Because casual game players and the non-gaming public were suddenly talking about Nintendo again, something they hadn't done since the Wii. Expect the same with SNES mini despite what is obvious lip service about "meeting demand this time... promise!" from Nintendo's PR spin doctors. They want to sell Switches and New 2DSs/New 3DSs. They probably couldn't care less about making lots of money on these products; they're an advertisement for Nintendo and little else. Of course, you can only burn customers so many times before they revolt, but Nintendo has the hubris of a "too big to fail" company right now. We'll see how long that lasts when the very system they actually *want* to sell-- the Switch-- can't be found either. Component shortage or not, pull this crap enough times and your customers won't care if the scarcity is legitimate or not; they'll blame *you.* And the casual fan won't want to bothered with hunting a product down, so when they can't easily find a Switch they'll simply move on.

As a long time Nintendo fan, my hope is that everyone purchases a Raspberry Pi instead and emulates the crap out of Nintendo's retro back catalogue, canabalizing future Virtual Console sales on the Switch. Because, you know, they actually *care* about those sales. Nintendo will not change unless they feel the financial hurt of their business decisions. For those preparing to put me on blast for condoning and even encouraging emulation: if Nintendo doesn't respect us as consumers, why should we reward them with our money?

bluenote wrote:Companies do not hold back on stock to create artificial scarcity. I'm not sure why people think this. It makes no sense for Nintendo to be holding stock in a warehouse, not shipping units out just to create buzz. No company would ever do this. (I shouldn't say no company, but no successful company). You strike when the iron is hot. Especially in this market, consumers move on to the next big thing very quickly. Nintendo would not risk sales by holding back sales.

The Switch was getting great reviews, and good feedback. Lack of stock is not making the product look any better to the consumer. There is no reason to believe that this isn't what Nintendo is saying: Lack of components. Simple as that.

Regarding the NES/SNES classic, I don't really know why they didn't make more. That is baffling to me. Especially the NES classic at xmas time. They could have made a killing! If every Walmart, Target, etc had those by the checkout lane, it would have been the biggest seller.

Your third paragraph is why we don't believe your first and second paragraph.

My third paragraph has nothing to do with the first two. If they intentionally held back production of the NES classic, it wasn't to sell more NES classics, because they promptly discontinued it.

SpaceGuitarist wrote:I don't know what's the matter with them but the strategy seem to be working.With the NES Mini selling out in a blink of an eye, they have basically made sure that every Mini console they make is going to fly off the shelves, because these things are now perceived as highly sought after, valuable toys. On the other hand, plug & play consoles by other brands (which basically offer the same thing, only with a different selection of games), are sitting on the shelves largely unwanted.

I never thought the NES Mini was much about "making money". I think it was more about re-establishing the brand and getting shelf space in stores during the xmas season. After all, the NES Mini was sold at half its real value, if the price of Virtual Console games is actually what Nintendo thinks those games are worth. Selling a dozen VC .roms nets them the same money of a NES Mini, at virtually zero expenses.

This strategy is also affecting Switch sales. The point is, people now know that Nintendo makes hard to find products, therefore they are much more prone to impulse buying their stuff when they see it in stores, because they know that if they think twice, it may be gone. All the people complaining because the NES Mini is impossible to buy - I wonder how many of them would have really bought the thing if they knew they could have got it anytime anywhere. The answer is probably not many.

Hey, it works on me too - I had no interest in the new Roger Waters record until I read that it was going to be pulled from stores...

I'm going to hire you to be my editor! Same sentiment as mine, said in 1/4 the words!

Y'all do realize Disney's been doing the same thing since Betamax came out? Limiting production to just under demand, so their products sell out fast and are never discounted. Not an evil strategy; Disney is better at communicating the limited nature of their releases tho.

I actually had an idea the other day, when the preorders started, and I wanted to bounce it off of you guys:

In my opinion, there is a way to somewhat curtail the abundance of scalping for the Classic line: MyNintendo. Why doesn't Nintendo release them exclusively for MyNintendo makers who have to have a set amount of points (keep them on the lower end), or have had the set amount of points within a two month grace period. If they have the points, then they can pay the $80 for a console that will be mailed to them, one per household. Yes, it may be unfair to some, but....isn't that what we're already dealing with, having to compete with bots that operate around the clock, at a breakneck speed? Besides, anybody who would really want a Classic probably already has some Nintendo products that they can register.

Stock really doesn't matter. Nintendo could release an extra two million, and they'd still be gobbled up by resellers. Just make it more difficult for them to get their grubby mitts on them.

A week or two ago Nintendo released their forecast for Switch production for the rest of the fiscal year, and it increased from 10 million to 14 million. This is in addition to the 2 or 3 million it produced for the product launch in March for the previous fiscal year. That’s an enourmous number of consoles to produce, and it’s pretty obvious they aren’t artificially limiting supply, nor were they ever going to do so in the first place. They also produced 2 million SNES Classics - another massive number. There’s no conspiracy going on, just higher demand.